Machine for covering wires



(No Model.) 4 sheet -sheen 1.

J. A.v BARRETT.

MACHINE FOR COVERING WIRES.

No. 486845. Patented Nov. 29,1892.

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(No Model.) I 4 Sheets-Shet 2.

J. A.BARRB-TT. MACHINE FOR COVERING WIRES.

110,486,845. Patented Nov. 29,1892;

(No Model.) 4 Shets-Sheet 3.

J.A.BA RRETT. MAGHINB FOR COVERING WIRES.

. No..486,84-5. Patented Nov. 29,1892.

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(No Model.) I 4 sheets-Sheet 4;

' J. A. BARRETT.

MACHINE FOR COVERING WIRES. V

N0. 486,845. Patented NOV. 29,1892.

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ll/ Q m l0 [2 v ZiZ'e/Jf" 120671???" 3f W 3 0 I J. 0 a. 2 MW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. BARRETT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD UNDERGROUND CABLE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR COVERING WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,845, dated November 29, 1892.

Application filed May 10, 1892. Serial No. 432,404. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. BARRETT, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Covering Wires, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

[0 The object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine for covering wires and similar strands arranged parallel with each other with cord, tape, or similar material by weaving the latter between and about the wires, the special object being to provide a simple machine of high capacity for producing an electric circuit consisting of a pair of conductors woven in a single mesh forming insulation between and about the conductors.

While, therefore, the invention is of general application in many arts, it will be illustrated and described as embodied in a machine for forming an electric circuit, and from 2 5 this description applications of the invention in machines of other classes will readily be understood.

In the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating a machine embodying my invention in its preferred form as appliedto forming a woven electric circuit, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken above the sh uttle-race on the line 3 of Fig. 1.. Fig. 4 is a 3 5 horizontal section on the line4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical central section of the lower part of the machine on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a detail front view of the shuttle, and Fig. 7 shows the product.

Referring to said drawings, the frame of the machine may be of any suitable form; but as shown it consists of two vertical side frames AB, at the top of which the wire and cord reels are mounted, and a base-frame C, which 45 supports the weaving mechanism. Upon the top of the frame C is mounted the circular.

shuttle-race D, in which moves the shuttle E, this shuttle-race being supported by brackets 10 on the top plate of the frame. In the frame C, below the shuttle-race D, is mounted the shaft F,this shaft being made hollow, so

that the woven circuit may be led through the same, thus positioning the conductors to be covered centrally to the shaft and line of movement of the shuttle E. The shaft F is preferably provided with an interior removable bushing 11, which may be changed as desired, so as to enlarge or diminish the interior diameter of the shaft and vary the throw of the warp accordingly. The shaft F is driven by a belt-pulley G, or in any other suitable manner. The shaft F'carries at its upper end a plate or arm 12, by which the shuttle is driven through vertical studs 13 14 thereon, these studs 13 14 carrying, respectively, springs 15 16, engaging the rear and forward ends of the shuttle, spring 15 operating to drive the shuttle and spring 16 to hold it in position and prevent its overrunning, especially when the machine is stopped, these springs being so positioned that the shuttle is loose between them. A rigid arm 17 is preferably mounted on the stud 13, behind the spring 15, so as to support the latter. Across the top of the shuttle-race D extends a slotted bar or guide 18, and through small openings midway of the length of this guide and centrally above the hollow shaft F, so as'to lie and be firmly held at equal distances on opposite sides of the axis of the same, are led the conductors a, to be covered, these conductors being led from reels H mounted on studs in the side frames A B at opposite sides of the machine.

In the construction shown twowarp-strands of cord are used to separate the conductors a and form the insulation between them, so as to form an approximately-flat circuit with a greater amount of insulation between than about the conductors. These warp-strandsb are led from a reel I, mounted centrally of the machine at the top of the frames A B. From the reel I the warp-strands I) pass through eyes 1 in a sleeve 8 on an arm 19 on a rock-shaft 20, mounted in the side frames 5 of the machine, this rock-shaft 20 being provided on its opposite side with an arm k, extending downward to or near the top of the shuttle-race D and forming the heddle by which the warp is shifted from one side to the other of the conductors a in time for the throw of the weft by the shuttle. From the sleeve 8 the warp-strands b pass through eyes 2 on a cross-bar 21, mounted in the framesA B, and thence downward through eyes 3, carried by a spring 22 on heddle K, and thence through the heddle-eyes 4: 4 at the end of the heddle to the open top end of the shaft F, these strands being led in between the conductors a in the slot in guide 18. The sleeve 8 is preferably made adjustable on arm 19 and held in position by a set-screw 5, or in any other suitable manner, so as to form an adjustable take-up device by which the amount of the warp-strands I) drawn off from the reel I may be varied as desired. The heddle K is shifted in proper time, so as to carry the warp-strands b through the slot in guide 18 from one side of the shuttle-race to the other by a lever 23 on a rock-shaft 24, mounted in frames A B and connected to the heddle by a link 25, the lev'er23 being actuated from an eccentric 26 on shaft F, through a pitman 27, connected to the lower end of the lever. The weft-strand c is led from the weft-reel L loose in the shuttle E over a bar 28 and through a guide 29 at the front open side of the shuttle to the shaft F. The shuttle E, as above explained, is held in position and actuated by the springs 15 16 on studs 13 14 and is supported upon the base of the shuttle-race. l attain a special object, which will be hereinafter described in connection with the operation of the machine, by providing the shuttle, as shown, with a warp-holding lip 30 on its rear side, extending throughout nearly the length of theshuttle, this lip riding upon an inwardly-projecting flange or lip 31 at the top of the shuttle-race, which lip is slotted at each side of the race opposite the slot in guide 18, so that the warp-strands b may be thrown outside the shuttle E. The woven circuit is led through the hollow shaft F and then several times about pulleys M N at the base of the machine and thence to the winding-up reel, the pulley N being driven so as to draw off the conductors and Warp and weft strands by any suitable means. Bycarrying the circuit about the pulleys M N several times before leading the circuit off to the winding-up reel a constant uniform tension upon the strands and circuit is secured.

The operation of the machine will be understood from a brief description. The conductors a, as above stated, are led straight through the shaft F and are positioned accurately and firmly held on opposite sides of the axis of the shaft bythe small guiding openings in the guide 18, and the warp-strands b are led fromthe lower end of the heddle to the upper end of the shaft F, and positively guided and held centrally between the conductors a by the sides of the slot in guide 18, through which the warp-strands are carried between the opposite sides of the shuttle-race D by the heddle, and the weft-strand 0, carried by the shuttle, is led through the guide 29 to the upper end of the shaft F, so as to be carried about the conductors by the shuttle.

In the drawings the shuttle is shown as at the left hand of the shuttle-race D, as in Figs. 3 and 5, and is being carried about on the inside of the Warp-strands b, which are now in their outer position at the left end of the slotted guide 18. The heddle K is in its outer left-hand position, but is just about to be carried to the opposite side so as to transfer the warp-strands b to the opposite side of the conductors. As the shuttle continues its movement, passing inside the warp-strands b and between them and the conductors, and the heddle moves to the right,the warp-holding lip30 upon the shuttle presses against the warp-strands 12, holding them in position against movement in the slotted guide 18, so to prevent their being thrown inward by the movement ofthe heddle, which without the lip 30 would carry them inward and downward, so as to be caught in the space between the top of the shuttle E and the guide 18. If the heddle K be given a sufficient pause at the end of its movement in either direction, it is apparent that the lip 30 upon the shuttle is not required, as the warp will then be held in position by the heddle; but by the shuttle shown in connection with the special construction of heddle K and spring 22 I am enabled to' operate the heddle without any such pause, thereby increasing largely the capacity of the machine. As the heddle K moves across the race from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to that shown in dotted lines in the same figure, the spring 22 yields against the tension of the warp-strands b and pays out a sufficient amount of slack between the eyes 2 and 4 to enable the heddle K to thus swing, while at the same time the warpstrands b are held at the left side of the shuttle-race, outside the shuttle, by the lip 30 on the latter. Meanwhile the take-up arm 19 is being carried to the left, in Fig. 1, by the movement of the heddle K, and the required amount of the warp-strands b is drawn off from the reel I. The warp-strands b are thus held outside the shuttle during the movement of the latter and the heddle K until the tail of the shuttle passes the strands, when the strands are released by slipping around the tail of the shuttle between it and the spring 17, and as the strands b are released the spring 22 immediately springs outward from the heddle to the position shown in Fig. 1, throwing the strands b outward from the heddle K and carrying them quickly to the opposite side of the shuttle-race D, so as to lie outside of the shuttle when the nose reaches the guide 18, and as the heddle Kcompletes its movement to the opposite side of the race the portions of the warp-strands drawn off by the take-up is fully taken up and the warp-strands drawn tight on the opposite side of the race and held yieldingly by the spring 22. The shuttle now passes on the inside of the warp-strands b, on the opposite side ofthe conductors a from that by which it is passed on the inside of the warp-strands on the opposite side of the shuttle-race D, and the heddle K returns to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 at the opposite side of the race, the spring 22 acting, as before, to

furnish slack for this movementof theheddle K and the take-up operating to draw ofi the required amount from the warp-reel I. The operation is thus continued, the conductor, warpand weft strands,and completed circuit being drawn off by the pulleys M N, and thence led to the winding-up reel, as previously described. The product is shown clearly in Fig. 7, the conductors a lying straight and parallel with each other, the warp-strands b lying between the conductors and bent outside the same alternately to opposite sides, and the weft-strands a passing about the conductors and warp-strands and crossing the warp-strands between them and the conductors and alternately on opposite sides of the latter.

While I have shown and described my invention as applied in a machine in which two conductors are woven in a single mesh to form a single-strand electric circuit, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the construction of the machine may be modified for covering any desired limited number of wires or other strands, and that any de sired number of warp and weft strands may be used between each wire or series of wires forming asingle strand in the product. Thus three or four wires may readily be covered by providing one or more additional slotted guides 18, through which conductors are led, as in the construction shown, and providing the heddle K with devices for carrying additional warp-strands. Two or more weftstrands also may be used, being drawn from a single reel in the shuttle E, or two or more shuttles may be used, operating alternately. Various other modifications in the general construction of the machine may readily be made by those skilled in the art in accordance with the product desired. It is evident, also, that various modifications may be made in the specific construction shown as embodying my invention, and I am not to be limited to the specific form of the devices shown.

The electric circuit described and shown herein is claimed in my patent, No. 482,149, granted September 6, 1892.

What I claim is- 1. The combination,with mechanism for advancing a plurality of wires or similar strands at suitable distances apart, of a heddle reciprocating between said wires and carrying the warp and a shuttle carrying the weft between the warp and wires and alternately on opposite sides of the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination,with mechanism for advancing a plurality of wires and carrying the warp or similar strands at suitable distances apart, of a heddle reciprocating between said wires and a shuttle moving in a circular path about the wires and carrying the weft between the warp and wires and alternately on opposite sides ofthe latter, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with ashuttle and circular shuttle-race, of a heddle reciprocating across said race from the outer side of the path of the shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outerside on the opposite side of the center of said path, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a shuttle and circular shuttle-race, of a slotted guide extending across the race from the outer side of the path of the shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side on the opposite side of the center of said path, and a heddle reciprocating longitudinally of said guides, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a shuttle and circular shuttle-race, of a slotted guide extending across said race from the outer side of the path of the shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side of the opposite side of the center of said path and provided with openings midway of said guide on pposite sides of the slot, and a heddle reciprocating longitudinally of the guide between said openings, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a hollow rotating shaft, a circular shuttle-race above said shaft, and a shuttle driven by the shaft, of a slotted guide extending across said race from the outer side of the path of the shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side on the opposite side of the center of said path and provided with openings midway of said guide on opposite sides of the slot, and a heddle reciprocating longitudinally of the guide between said openings, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a circular shuttlerace, of a heddle reciprocating across said race from the outer side of the path of said shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side on the opposite side of the center of said path, rotating shaft F, plate 12, carried by said shaft, studs 13 14 on said plate, and shuttle E, lying between and engaged at opposite ends by said studs, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with rotating shaft F and shuttle-race D,.of plate 12, carried by said shaft, studs 13 14 on said plate, springs 15 16 on said studs, and shuttle E, lying between and engaged at opposite ends by said springs, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a circular shuttlerace, of a heddle reciprocating across said race from the outer side of the path of said shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side on the opposite side of the V center of said path, rotating shaft F, plate 12,

carried by said shaft, studs 13 14 onsaid plate, springs 15 16 on said studs,-and shuttle E, lying between and engaged at opposite ends by said springs, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with a circular shuttle-race having the lip 31, of slotted guide 18, extending across said race from the outer side of the path of the shuttle on one side of the center of said path to the outer side on the opposite side of the center of said path, said lip 31 being cut away at opposite ends of the guide, heddle K, reciprocating longitudinally of said guide, spring 22 on said heddle, having a Warp-eye, and shuttle E, having the lip 30, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with reel I, of swinging heddle K, carrying take-up arm 19, spring 22 on said heddle, having a warp-eye, shuttlerace D, having lip 31, and shuttle E, having lip 30, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with a circular shuttie-race having the lip 31, of a heddle reciprocating across said race, a spring on said heddle, yielding in the line of movement of the heddle and having a warp-eye, and a shutthe having the lip 30, substantially as described.

13; The combination, with the reel I, of swinging heddle K, carrying take-up arm 19, and spring 22 on said heddle, having a warpeye, substantially as described.

14. The combination, with the circular raceway D, having inwardly-extending lip 31-, of shuttle -E, having warp-holding lip 30, 1ying on said lip 31, substantially as described.

15. The combination, with reel I, of swinging heddle K, carrying take-up arm 19, and a warp-eye adjustable on said arm, substantially as described.

16. Heddle K, having take-up arm 19 and spring 22, having an eye, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN A. BARRETT.

Witnesses:

THos. F. KEHOE, C. J. SAWYER. 

